Show Review & Photos: Midge Ure @ the Triple Door

How many times in life do you get those really awe-striking moments? I can get them at shows. Do I get them as often as I used to? I mean, I go to many shows. The answer is a definite yes; I got awestruck by Midge Ure when he played Seattle’s Triple Door.

The Scottish Ure should be known by you as the singer of Ultravox. If not, I am actually excited and jealous, because that means you can discover him and Ultravox all anew! Ultravox, a British band who places high on my top bands, created a gorgeous catalogue of synth music. The group also helped introduce synthesizers in popular music, and they craftily joined that synth with guitars. I’m mentioning guitars as Ure masterfully plays guitar in addition to synthesizer. With ten solo albums, and six Ultravox albums, there’s a lot of material he could work with for a setlist. Other cool fact? He was a member of another great British band, Visage. Albums one and two, Visage and The Anvil, feature Ure. Do get them.

Ure’s work shimmers. Performed live, it also shimmers and gives you goosebumps. Ultravox songs made up approximately half the set, and Ure selected fan favorites (because, although the audience was lovely, they would riot without them) “Vienna,” “Passing Strangers,” “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes” and “Reap the Wild Wind,” but he included a few unexpected and also fabulous ones: “New Europeans,” “All Stood Still,” “Become,” “Hymn” and “The Voice.” About “Vienna”: for fun, sometimes I think about what songs I would include in my top ten and/or want everyone to know. “Vienna” is one. I don’t know if music gets better than that. Hearing it for the first time done live meant so much to me. Solo material such as “If I Was” and “Call of the Wild,” and Visage tune “Fade to Grey” got loads of affection from the audience too. I think fellow Visage fans were surprised as I was to hear the cool and sleek “Fade to Grey.” For the encore, Ure played an absolutely stunning tribute to David Bowie with a version of “Starman.”

To Midge Ure, a powerful singer and artist who knows how to create music of depth and emotion, I say: thank you, for so much.